I think a lot about different mentalities around me(including myself). How unique is this world!!! I see myself as a part of this uniqueness. All because of 'Mystery of Creation'...as the title goes...

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Mother's lap

That is how I want to quote my experience with Sandhan valley.
Its a trekking spot close to a village called 'Samrad' located around 230kms towards west of Pune. We took a bus on 8th(Friday) midnight around 11.30PM. Reached Samrad on 9th(Saturay) at 7.30AM. Curse my routine...I can't speak a word properly without cleaning my mouth early morning. The moment I got down the bus, I rushed into this house and asked for some water to start my rituals :) Thanks to these people. They offered me a bucket full of water...lolz :)

As can be seen in the pic, it was full of clouds(yes you read it right). The village is at an altitude above sea level (I dont know the exact dimensions). Awesome weather. We expected it to be hot that day and took very little gear with us. We started shivering slowly. In that cold, we had nice idli with awesome chutney.

The organizer, Koustubh Pathak, took a quick attendance(we were 50 in number and it is important), introduced the 3 organizers and asked us to follow them. We stood at the starting point of the valley and then started the ghoshna -

Most of the hills(in Western ghats) covering Mumbai and Pune were conquered by Sri Chatrapati Sivaji Maharaj.
Staying in Pune for the last 2.5years, watching his bronze statues in every alternate corner of the streets, witnessing his birthday celebrations celebrated with a lot of energy, I must stay, I could see the descendants of the kingdom of the glorious Chatrapati Sivaji Maharaj here(no exaggeration). I got goosebumps.
And then we started entering the valley.

This is my second trek. First one was to Bhairavgad. Bhairavgad was hill and it is expected to be a difficult one. This is different. Its not a hill/cliff. Its a valley...a very narrow path between two huge hills.

It doesn't seem very tough but believe me, you cannot lift you head a little and take a step forward. By the time you realize you stepped on a lose rock, you might've lost two teeth :)

Taking a break with Monil and other fellow trekkers-

(To all those who dont know me, am with the backpack)

Oh man. Monil is fat but kudos to his stamina. He is a professional trekker. I realized...being fat doesn't mean you are a dumbo...

The valley was so full with rocks of different sizes and shapes(does it sound childish??? may be yes but I dont have words to explain how beautiful they were...:))

There were surprises too -

and

and this

Its not just one. They are there everywhere around you. Especially in the crevices that you want to use as a support. Interesting part is, it was great fun looking at these in their own natural habitat.

This is the end point of our trek. We had some snacks, refreshments and started our journey back.

Last year, for some stupid reasons, I missed a trek to fort close to pune. I was so stupid. I decided not to miss any of them now.
I don't want to miss the fun of enjoying the beauty of nature. I had a great weekend.
I played in the lap of mother nature.

12 Comments:

wow seems like it was amazing trip .....I must compliment on the way you write, its as if i was imagining things happen around me .. while i was reading :D ... MAST... hope even i get a chance to experience such thing

Thanks all for the nice comments...a couple of days back, western ghats were identified as the world heritage site by the UN. Feel so proud and energetic abt these. Would love to conquer more in future :)